Read the business case "Waste Management" posted in the module 2 content folder and answer the questions "If you were in charge of Waste Management, what would you do?". What can the waste management company do to meet increased customers expectations, on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials? Waste Management Headquarters, Houston, Texaslargest retailer in the world, has also embraced thisgoal, stating, "Our vision is to reach a day where thereare no dumpsters behind our stores and clubs, andno landfills containing our throwaways." Like those atSubaru and Walmart, corporate leaders worldwide arecommitted to reducing the waste produced by theircompanies. Because that represents a direct threatto Waste Management's landfill business, what canbe done to take advantage of the trend toward zerowaste while allowing the company to continue to growAmericans generate a quarter billion tons of trasha year, or 4.5 pounds of trash per person per day.Thanks to nearly 9,000 curbside recycling programs,a third of that is recycled. But, that still leaves 3pounds of trash per person per day to be disposed.In the past, trash was incinerated, often in localneighborhoods. John Waffenschmidt, vice presidentfor Covanta Energy Corp., remembers that when hedelivered newspapers in the 1960s, “I'd go out in themorning and there would be little flakes comingdown because there were 4,000 or 5,000 apartment-revenues?Another significant change for Waste Managemenis that not only are its customers reducing the wastethey send to its landfills, they're also wanting what issent to landfills to be sorted for recycling and reuse.For instance, food waste, yard clippings, and wood-alorganic materials-account for roughly one-third ofthe material sent to landfills. Likewise, there's growingdemand for waste companies to manage and recyclediscarded TVs, computer monitors, and other electroniwaste that leak lead, mercury, and hazardous materi-als when improperly disposed. However, the high costof collecting and sorting recyclable materials meansthat Waste Management loses money when it recyclesbuilding incinerators." The rest was incinerated inlarge power plants, like the one on the east side ofthe Hudson River that burns 1,900 tons of New YorkCity garbage each day.With 20 million customers; 273 municipal landfills;91 recycling facilities; and 17 waste-to-energy facili-ties-that's what large power-generating incineratorplants are called today- Waste Management, Inc., isthe largest waste-handling company in the world. Itgenerates 75 percent of its profits from 273 landfills,which can hold 4.8 billion tons of trash. And becauseit only collects 110 million tons a year, it has plenty oflandfill capacity for years to come.You joined the company a decade ago, and, after3.5 short years as deputy general counsel and thenchief financial officer, became CEO. That quick promo-them. What can the company do to meet increasedcustomer expectations, on one hand, while still findinga way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials?Finally, advocacy groups, such as the Sierra Club,regularly protest Waste Management's landfill prac-tices, deeming them irresponsible and harmful to thetion prompted you to joke, "I needed to go to a book-store to see whether I could find a book called CEO-ingfor Dummies." Instead, Waste Management sent you to store to see whether I could find a book called CEO-ingfor Dummies." Instead, Waste Management sent you toHarvard for an executive program for CEOS, where themost important lesson you learned was to listen, be-cause, as you tell your executive team, "This companyand this industry aren't very good at that."And with all of the changes taking place in yourregularly protest Waste Management's landfill prac-tices, deeming them irresponsible and harmful to theenvironment. Should Waste Management take on itscritics and fight back, or should it focus on its businessand let the results speak for themselves? Should it viewenvironmental advocates as a threat or an opportunityfor the company?If you were in charge of Waste Management, whatwould you do?industry, Waste Management won't succeed unless itlistens. However, corporations, cities, and householdsare greatly reducing the amount of waste they gener-ate, and thus the amount of trash that they pay WasteSources: "2010 Sustainability Report,"Waste Management, www.wm.com/sustainability/pdfs/2010_Sustainability_Report.pdf, (accessed 6 February 2011); "Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling,and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2008,"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,Management to haul away to its landfills. Subaru ofAmerica, for instance, has a zero-landfill plant in WestLafayette, Indiana, that hasn't sent any waste to alandfill since 2004. None! And Subaru isn't exceptionalin seeking to be a zero-landfill company. Walmart, thehttp://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2008rpt.pdf, (accessed 14 February2011); "Zero Waste,"Wal-Mart*Corporate, http://walmartstores.com/Sustainability/7762.aspx(accessed 15 February 2011); J. Ball, "Currents-Power Shift: Climate Change: Garbage Gets FreshLook as Source of Energy," Wall Street Joumal, 15 May 2009, A9; J. Fahey, "Waste Not," Forbes Asia, July2010, 46; M. Gunther, "Waste Management's New Direction," Fortune 6 December 2010, 103–108; A.Robinson & D. Schroeder, "Greener and Cheaper: The conventional wisdom is that a company's costsrise as its environmental impact falls; Think again." The Wall Street Journal, 23 March 2009, R4.

In the current situation it can be evaluated that waste management company make money from the…

Read the business case "Waste Management" posted in the module 2 content folder and answer the questions "If you were in charge of Waste Management, what would you do?". What can the waste management company do to meet increased customers expectations, on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials?

Read the business case "Waste Management" posted in the module 2 content folder and answer the questions "If you were in charge of Waste Management, what would you do?". What can the waste management company do to meet increased customers expectations, on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials?

Understanding Business

12th Edition

ISBN:9781259929434

Author:William Nickels

Publisher:William Nickels

Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1CE

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